Nourishing Caesar Salad Dressing

For as long as I can remember I have been draw to the Caesar salad on any menu. The crunchy lettuce, the substantial chicken, the buttery croutons, and the main event – the dressing. This salad dressing is pungent with garlic, salty with fresh Parmesan, tangy with lemon, and has such a depth of flavor from anchovies. It is just so good.

It can also be a bit intimidating to make at home because most of us are not used to raw egg yolks or anchovies. But let me tell you, these two ingredient make this dressing. The raw egg yolk of the homemade olive oil mayonnaise is what binds everything together into a creamy dream. The anchovies do not make this taste fishy, but rather bring a rich meatiness that round out all of the other flavors.

Plus with the raw egg yolk, raw cheese, and good fats from the anchovies it is a super nourishing top to any salad, or in my case anything I can pour it over

Make a paste of the garlic and anchovies: Roughly chop garlic on cutting board. Lay anchovy fillets over garlic and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Chop anchovies into garlic. Now turn the knife on its side with the blade away from you. Place the side of the knife on top of the garlic and anchovy mixture and push down and scrape the mixture towards you. This should smash the two together roughly. Continue chopping and scraping mixture until a rough paste forms.

In a pint jar combine mayonnaise, anchovy-garlic paste, parmesan cheese, mustard powder, and lots of black pepper. With the lid on shake the jar until well combined. Thin with water as desired. Serve over fresh greens with an extra grating of parmesan or serve on top of fish or chicken. Keeps for a few days in the refrigerator.

Do you have a favorite salad dressing that you’d like to make at home?

I am wife to Stewart, mama of five, homeschooler, messy cook, and avid fermenter. This is where I tell our story... of building a sustainable off-grid homestead in a Christian agrarian community... of raising this growing family of ours... of the beauty and the hard and the joy in all of it.

5 Comments

I will HAVE to give it a shot anchovy and all… even though I may not be able to keep my food down when I add them. Oh I can’t think about it… I just need to make it sounds great and I have been looking for some better dressings that are kid friendly too (luckily my kids have a bit of adult taste buds so I think this would be great).

I don’t keep anchovies on hand, so I often don’t make Caesar dressing. I usually make vinaigrette. One thing I really enjoy, but haven’t made at home, is a creamy vinaigrette. I’m sure it can’t be that hard, I’ve just never tried!

I’ve used this recipe a few times now — thank you! My husband LOVES it. I just noticed the “raw” on the parmesan cheese. Is that simply parm made from raw milk? We do raw milk and raw cheddar, but only have blocks of regular parm available to us through our local grocery stores and co-ops. Parmesan is the only non-raw diary we eat, so I’m really curious about your mention of it raw. Do you make it yourself? It looks easy to make.. just looked it up. Would just need to be willing to wait months for the final product.

I have used anchovies only once before. I bought a small can, but after keeping them in the fridge for a week I was worried they could be going bad. How do you keep them after opening the can and only using a few?

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Alongside our five young children and community we're building an off-grid homestead from scratch and trying to grow more while buying less (though we have a long long way to go). We're fond of traditional and fermented foods, the nourishment they give, and the sustainability they bring. We also believe in growing them ourselves so we've been making messes, soil, and memories on this land since 2011.

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